LOUISIANA. 107 



As to religion, they believe the exiftence of a 

 great Spirit, whom they adore under the form 

 of a ferpent or a crocodile ; they give him a 

 kind of divine fervice. They fear the devil, 

 whom they call a bad fpirit. They likewife 

 adore the fun and moon. When it thunders, 

 they imagine that tht-Lord of life fpeaks to them 

 in an angry tone. 

 « 



I mud not clofe my letter without informing 

 you of a fmgular event, which, though of very 

 little importance, may however be very ufeful 

 to me, during my flay in Jmerica, The Aka?^ 

 zas have adopted me j they have acknowledged 

 me as a warrior and a chief, and have given me 

 the mark of it, which is the figure of a roe- 

 buck imprinted on my thigh. I have willingly 

 undergone this painful operation, which was 

 performed in the following manner : I was feat- 

 ed 00 a tyger's fkin ; an Indian burnt fome 

 Uraw, the aihes of which he diluted with water: 

 he made ufe of this fimple mixture to draw the 

 roe-buck; he then followed the drawing with 

 great needles, pricking them deep into the fleih, 

 till the blood comes out ; this blood mixing 

 with the afhes of the draw, forms a figure which 

 can never be effaced. I fmoked the calum.et af- 

 ler that % they fpread white fkins under my it^U 



on 



